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Fishing: Northeastern Louisiana report

BLACK BAYOU – Bass are fair on lizards and floating worms fished around brush and grass. Bream are fair on worms and crickets. Crappie are scattered and slow.

CANEY LAKE – Lots of school bass are being caught in the coves on Pop R’s, Crazy Shads and smoke grubs. A few bigger bass have been caught off the deeper points on 11 inch worms. Crappie are fair to good as they’re suspended around the submerged tops in 15 foot water. Jigs or shiners will work on these fish.

Chinquapins continue to bite cold worms fished on the bottom on the flats in 8-10 foot water.

CHENIERE LAKE – The lake is still high and few people are fishing.

LAKE CLAIBORNE – A good many bream are being caught in fairly shallow water on worms and crickets. Catfishing is fair to good on trotlines baited with live bream or goldfish. Bass fishing is fair with best catches made at night on black spinners or plastic worms fished around the lighted piers or along dark banks.

Crappie fishing is slow to fair on shiners or jigs fished around submerged brush. Stripers are fair trolling bucktails or spoons. A night bass tournament, sponsored by Parden’s Paradise, is being held every Friday night. Call Parden’s Paradise at 927-2264 for details.

LAKE D’ARBONNE – Because of hurricane induced rains and run-off, the lake is having a hard time falling, even with the spillway gates open. A good many bream are being caught off the banks on red wigglers. Catfish continue to bite cold worms fished off the banks. Crappie are scattered and slow. Bass fishing is best fishing points with current on lipless crank baits.

OUACHITA RIVER – The river is high and rising and few people are trying to fish.

LAKE POVERTY POINT – Bass fishing is fair while the crappie are scattered and slow. Catfish are biting cut bait and bream are fair on worms and crickets.

LAKE ST. JOHN – The lake is has been closed due to high water to protect piers and boathouses from boat traffic.

LAKE YUCATAN – The lake is rising and fishing has slowed.

Oklahoma's fishing report

CENTRAL

 Draper: Elevation ½ ft. above normal and clear. Channel catfish good on cut baits and stink bait. White bass good on medium-diving crankbaits, jigs and sassy shad, look for surfacing activity.

Hefner: White bass and walleye good on cut shad.

Overholser: Channel catfish fair on stinkbaits.

Thunderbird: Elevation ½ ft. above normal and clear. Channel catfish good on cut baits. White bass good trolling off humps and points on inline spinners, medium-diving crankbaits and sassy shad. Saugeye good off points at 6 to 10 ft. sassy shad, medium-diving crankbaits and jigs. Bass good on tandem spinnerbaits and plastic worms in coves over weed beds.

NORTHEAST

 Bell Cow: Elevation below normal, water clear. Bass fair on plastics. Catfish fair on doughbaits. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs.

Birch: Elevation above normal, water 76 degrees and clear. Striped bass hybrids good on live shad at 16 to 25 ft. near the dam. Channel and blue catfish excellent on cut shad and stinkbaits. Largemouth bass fair on buzzbaits late in evening. Crappie fair on minnows around structure at 8 to 12 ft.

Carl Blackwell: Elevation normal, water 80 degrees. Striped bass hybrids fair on live shad and trolling crankbaits. Catfish fair on cut baits and punchbaits.

Chandler: Elevation below normal, water clear. Bass fair on plastics. Catfish slow. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs.

Hulah: Elevation 5 ft. above normal and murky. Crappie slow on minnows and jigs near submerged structure at 10 to 14 ft. Channel catfish good on cut shad. Blue, flathead and channel catfish fair below the dam on live or fresh cut shad.

Kaw: Elevation 23 ft. above normal. Channel and blue catfish good on worms and cut shad in the upper portion of the river from Trader’s Bend north. Striped bass and striped bass hybrids good on live shad below the dam during generation.

Oologah: Elevation 3½ ft. above normal and rising, water 80 degrees and muddy. Blue catfish good on juglines and trotlines with shad on the north end of the lake. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 10 to 15 ft. around brush piles. Blue and channel catfish fair on shad below the dam. White bass and crappie fair on jigs below the dam.

Skiatook: Elevation 1 ft. below normal, water upper 70 degrees and clear. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 12 to 15 ft. around stumps in the back of coves and creek channels. Largemouth bass fair on soft plastics over brush piles. Striped bass hybrids fair drifting live shad over open water.

Spavinaw: Elevation 1 ft. above normal, water 75 degrees and dingy. Crappie fair on jigs and minnows around the dam. Largemouth fair on crankbaits.

Webbers Falls: Elevation 2 ft. above normal, water murky. Largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits and crankbaits in creek channels and riprap. Catfish good on cut baits and stinkbaits on bottom. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs under bridges and around brush structure.

NORTHWEST

 Canton: Elevation 1 ft. above normal. White bass and striped bass hybrids good trolling crankbaits and drifting shad and slabs. Walleye fair trolling crankbaits. Channel catfish good on shad.

Fort Supply: Elevation normal, water clear. Channel catfish fair on stinkbait all over lake. Report submitted by Mark Reichenberger, game warden stationed in Harper County.

SOUTHEAST

 Arbuckle: Elevation 2 ft. below normal, water 81 degrees and murky. Crappie good around brush piles and docks. White bass fair chasing shad in the dam area in evenings. Bass fair using topwater lures, Carolina-rigged lizards and dropshot over moss beds. Channel catfish slowing.

Blue River: Elevation normal, water 70 degrees and clear. Smallmouth bass fair on soft plastics and shallow running crankbaits. Spotted bass good on inline spinnerbaits and soft plastics. Channel catfish fair on worms, minnows and stinkbaits. Flathead catfish slow on live sunfish.

Eufaula: Water rising due to rains. Largemouth bass good on Texas and Carolina-rigged soft plastics in black at the upper end of creeks along the influx of new water. Catfish fair on juglines and trotlines with cut baits. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs along hooks over standing timber.

Hugo: Elevation 1½ ft. above normal and rising, water 83 degrees and muddy. Largemouth bass good in brush with rising water. Catfish slow on lake and good below the dam. Crappie fair to good on minnows in brush piles.

Konawa: Elevation ½ ft. above normal, water 70 degrees and clear. Largemouth bass good on plastic worms at 3 to 8 ft. in weed beds and cattails.

Murray: Elevation normal, water clear. All fishing is starting to pick up due to cooler temperatures. Largemouth and smallmouth bass being caught. White bass fair trolling crankbaits early and late when schooling topwater. Channel catfish fair on chicken liver, stinkbaits and worms. Crappie slow on minnows and jigs at 15 ft. around brush piles. Walleye slow.

Pine Creek: Elevation above normal, water murky. Bass good in the mornings on topwater baits. Anglers arriving early can find largemouth bass schooling for some good fishing. Crappie fair on blue and black jigs fished at 8 to 12 ft. Catfish good on bait shrimp at 10 to 15 ft. off the bank.

Texoma: Elevation normal, water 82 degrees and clear. Largemouth and smallmouth bass fair to good around the riprap at Burns Run. Striped and white bass fair to good on live bait from Platter Flats south. Channel and blue catfish fair to good on live bait and cut baits from the railroad bridge south. Crappie fair to good on minnows north of the Hwy. 70 bridge. Sunfish good on worms around fishing docks.

Wister: Elevation 11 ft. above normal and murky. Largemouth bass good on topwater lures early and late. Crappie good on small spinners and jigs. Channel catfish good on earth worms, cut shad and liver with jugs.

SOUTHWEST

Altus-Lugert: Elevation 17 ft. below normal and rising. Fishing poor to fair. River is running high, bringing in a lot of mud and debris.

Ellsworth: Elevation below normal and murky. Catfish good around Goose Island. Crappie fair at Fisherman’s Cove. All fishing slow.

Foss: Elevation ¼ ft. above normal, water temp in the low 80 degrees and clear. Lake level ¼ foot above normal and gates closed. Walleye slow. Striped bass hybrid slow. Sand Bass fair. Catfish slow.

Lawtonka: Elevation below normal and clear. White bass fair to good at the pipeline on minnows.

Waurika: Elevation normal, water 76 degrees and murky. Catfish good on punchbaits.

Great weather makes for fun fishing in Twin Lakes Area

The lakes are rising and the temperatures are falling. The wade fishermen on the White River and the North Fork have had a chance to do their thing for a change. The generators on Bull Shoals Dam were shut down for the first time since early June.

The sudden shut down of the generators at Bull Shoals dam was the result of potential flooding downstream but was also responsible for the stranding of many trout in isolated shallow pockets along the river. Hopefully the next shutdowns will be more gradual.

All that has changed and the generators are again running nearly full due to the floodgates being opened on Table Rock Dam this week. The fish at Bull Shoals had just begun to re-adjust to the previous conditions and lower water levels. All this to say that fishing has been tough with few anglers taking to the water during the rainy stretch. What to do? Go Fish! The weather couldn’t be better and fishing is improving.

Some reports have good smallmouth and largemouth bass in 32-40 feet of water over the brush. The short walleye are also at that depth with the keepers in hiding within the flooded timber (good luck!). Nightcrawlers are working well with crawfish simulations such as Gitzit in green colors on Houndawg’s modified Carolina Rig also cashing in.

The important thing is to keep it moving and make it slow. Six colors of lead-core line should keep your bait in the strike zone. Also try the Hot’n Tot or Shad Rap lures if you prefer crankbaits. Bottom bouncers have produced Kentuckys, yellow perch, "bull" bluegill, and short walleye. Six- to 8-pound test line in green color is imperative to fool the better fish in the clear water.

Smallmouth bass have been trying to move onto the flatter, main lake points but are on-again, off-again due to weather changes. Try flukes over 24-28 feet of water. More consistent, fair weather should further encourage this movement.

Norfork Lake is a whole new ballgame. Most of the lake is nearly devoid of oxygen between 30-80 feet. That means that you will not find any fish in that region of the water column. With that said, keep your baits in the 25-foot and shallower range or below 75 feet.

I had two reports of keeper walleye below 80 feet but they were nearly dead and had no fight to them when landed. Stripers are also below 80 feet and are hard to coax into feeding. Much time has been spent with little reward. Most of the stripers that are caught are in the 5-8 pound range with a rare 15-20-pound fish.

The low temperature down there (55-58 degrees) slows down the fish’s metabolism so that they don’t need as much oxygen to survive but it decreases the rate of activity and digestion and therefore the need to eat as often as they normally would at this time of year. Downriggers are a must to present your bait and it must be slow (1.5-1.8 mph) because the cool water slows the fish.

Try swim baits, umbrellas, large Stump Jumper jigs with matching Hyper-Striper tails or the longer stick baits with a slow wobble such as the Bomber Long A and the Norman Razor Minnow. Color is not as important because there is very little light at that depth.

On the brighter side, catfish are doing well on nightcrawlers, cut bait, or shrimp. Trotlines are effective when kept above 25 feet with some impressive catches being reported.

Try surface lures like the Chug Bug or Zara Spook Jr. for Kentucky Bass and White Bass in the back of the coves. They are chasing shad early and late in the day so have your favorite temptation ready when they show up close at hand. Most are small but lots of fun, especially if kids are involved. Increasing numbers of Largemouth Bass are now showing up.

Small crankbaits and Zoom Baby Bushhog lizards in watermelon colors seem to be working toward the points over 20-25 feet of water casting toward shore, and the buck brush. Lure sales at the local bait purveyors have been brisk, considering the lower fishing pressure this year. Lure hunting along the shore should be very productive when the water gets low enough to leave the brush high and dry.

Tip of the week: In the dam area on Norfork, keep your eyes open for stressed and struggling stripers that are still alive. Several in the 20-40 pound class have been netted and taken to the creel. Stripers (Rockfish on the East Coast) are excellent table fare if taken while fresh and kept on ice. Remember to remove all of the red colored flesh to prevent the strong flavor. Good luck and tight lines.